Sundance 2020: Shirley Review

This will be one of many reviews during this year’s Sundance Film Festival, to keep up with our latest coverage, click here.

Stories about eccentric characters are a balancing act and Shirley, a fictional film based on the life of the famed horror writer Shirley Jackson, almost succeeds at creating a satisfying narrative. It certainly has its moments but this film will definitely not be for everyone. This unsettling period piece may seem like a drama but in reality, it’s more of a horror as it shows the self-destructive nature of creative types and its effect on others. This multi-generational tale takes place from multiple perspectives as the story follows a married couple named Stanley Edgar Hyman (Stuhlbarg) and Shirley Jackson (Moss) who invite a younger couple named Fred and Rose Nemser (Logan Lerman and Young) to live with them while Fred and Stanley worked together at the local college and Rose stayed home to tend to Shirley. What started off on not the best of terms would only get worse over the course of the film.

The love-hate relationship between Shirley and Stanley appeared to rub off onto Fred and Rose as the two couples seemingly served as a before and after. Shirley was an abrasive personality who pushed and pulled people while somehow finding inspiration for her works despite being a recluse who rarely got out of bed. Stanley was a pretentious personality who took offense to anyone or anything challenging his intelligence. While both relationships were contentious, Shirley focuses on that of Shirley and Rose, two very different women with an undeniable connection that eventually grew into something more as Rose served as inspiration for Shirley’s latest book (which would eventually become Hangsaman). The contrast between Shirley and Rose was compelling to watch on screen as we wonder whether the only innocent character would succumb to the darkness.

While the characters are a tad on the insufferable side thanks to some contrived dialog, the performances within Shirley didn’t suffer all that much for the most part. The best part of the film was Moss’ performance as Shirley. Regardless of how we may feel about the unhinged character, her dynamic performance was a powerful one as she simply commanded the screen as a dynamo of emotion. While Stuhlbarg was memorable as Stanley and Lerman was charming as Fred, this was Moss and Young’s show and they did not disappoint. The latter was incredibly charming and compelling to watch.

In the end, Shirley is a somewhat powerful female empowerment tale that doesn’t quite stick the landing but will surely lead people to look more into the life of Shirley Jackson which isn’t such a bad thing.

*still courtesy of Sundance*

If you liked this, please read our other reviews here and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter or Instagram or like us on Facebook.

Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.